Mumbai: Out-of-home (OOH) advertising has long been a cornerstone of the advertising landscape, offering a dynamic platform to reach audiences in their daily lives. From traditional billboards to cutting-edge digital displays, OOH has continuously evolved to capture attention in an increasingly crowded media space.
In this context, Tribes Communications has emerged as a trailblazer. Founded in 2015, Tribes began as an OOH company and rapidly integrated digital advancements to redefine brand-audience connections. Their journey from static billboards to immersive, tech-driven campaigns exemplifies the innovative potential of modern OOH advertising.
Indiantelevision.com recently caught up with Tribes Communication’s chairman and MD, Gour Gupta. With over two decades in advertising and marketing, Gupta’s leadership has been crucial in driving growth and technological innovation across OOH, events, activation, and retail. His strategic vision continues to impact the industry profoundly.
Edited Excerpts:
On the inspiration behind the inception of Tribes, and what sets it apart from other agencies in the industry
Our story began in March 2015, when Tribes was founded primarily as an OOH company. OOH has always been a dynamic and versatile medium, its canvas for creativity limitless. This is what inspired us to explore a medium that could engage audiences in a creative and impactful way. Moreover, at Tribes we have always made a conscious effort to invest in technology and over the years this has paid off for us.
Our ability to adapt to the dynamic advertising landscape and leverage cutting-edge technology to create more targeted and personalised communication has been a key differentiating factor that has enabled us to push the boundaries of creativity. This strategic foresight has fueled our journey from a conventional OOH company to a more robust integrated marketing agency.
On Tribes transforming traditional OOH advertising with digital technology
Digital technology has revolutionised OOH advertising and has been a game changer for us. Digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising has changed the way we view and engage with ads. We’ve moved much beyond static billboards to interactive screens that can be updated in real-time. With digital displays, signages, and LED billboards we have been able to create more dynamic spaces, with more targeted and personalised messaging for audiences using data analytics and audience measurement tools. We’ve also leveraged mobile technology to connect seamlessly with target audiences, giving them a more immersive campaign experience. Overall, technology has enabled our planners to understand the nuances of audiences – their behaviors and consumption patterns as well as the identification of hotspots that have helped them better plan and measure campaigns.
On how AR, VR or AI has significantly enhanced one of your campaigns
We used AR very early on for some of our automotive and sports clients. For example, when one of the world's most popular professional basketball leagues decided to make its foray into the country, we were tasked with creating a disruptive event that would generate buzz and make the sport a trending topic in a country that lives and breathes cricket. We achieved this by crafting an artistic storyboard narrated through 3D mapping projection on one of the country's most iconic monuments, the Gateway of India. The campaign became one of the biggest marketing pushes for the league. Within an hour of the projection, the event went viral. The projection attracted a crowd of 60,000 people around the venue and reached around 3.1 million people across the country.
On the future trends that you anticipate in OOH advertising, and how should brands adapt
The future of OOH advertising lies in highly targeted and interactive campaigns, driven by dynamic content to bring immersive experiences to audiences. OOH media formats have evolved significantly to reach diverse audiences in multiple locations. This ability to leverage data to target specific demographics and locations, and optimize reach, frequency and impact is what will help advertisers deliver powerful brand narratives. Integration with mobile and social media will allow advertisers to create seamless cross-channel experiences. The use of technologies such as QR codes and Bluetooth beacons, will integrate offline and online experiences as smartphones will be able to interact with OOH ads. AR and VR will increasingly be used to create immersive OOH experiences, engaging consumers in unique and memorable ways. AI is also poised to take OOH to the next level. Its algorithms and technologies, such as facial recognition, are helping advertisers analyze user data and create highly personalized video content.
With this surge in technology and the OOH industry on the brink of advancement, sustainability and eco-friendly practices are coming into focus. There will be a push towards more sustainable advertising practices, such as the use of eco-friendly materials and energy-efficient digital displays.
The OOH industry is in the midst of a renaissance. For brands to break through the clutter and stand out, they will need to disrupt the narrative. Clever and innovative use of technology with creative copy, impactful visuals and interactive elements will help create memorable stories that resonate with audiences and drive brand affinity.
On the recent successes at GoaFest showcasing the innovative strategies employed by your agency
Our recent wins at GoaFest were significant for us and they showcased some of our best campaigns that we had the privilege to work upon. They reinforced our strategic vision of embracing technology to bring alive exciting campaigns for audiences. The live billboard for the Cricket World Cup won us many accolades for its innovative use of ‘game adaptive technology’. The billboard changed its messaging based on real-time data points generated during the live match. Similarly, our Valentine Day’s campaign for one of our premier e-commerce clients allowed audiences to simply scan QR codes on our interactive installations, allowing consumers to choose from the range of Valentine's Day-themed items delivered to them on the spot in 10 minutes. With a clear call to action, both campaigns piqued the curiosity of passers-by and served our purpose of engaging directly with the audience for maximum brand visibility and impact. It once again demonstrated our faith in the dynamism of OOH and its potential to deliver targeted and personalised campaigns.
On blending cultural insights with technology to create impactful brand experiences and the role that storytelling plays in your campaigns
Data-driven insights derived from technology are the cornerstone of understanding consumer demographics, preferences and markets. At Tribes, our planners are no less than ethnographers and use these insights to create campaigns that resonate directly with the target audiences. However, at the heart of any campaign lies the story. Storytelling is key to a brand’s narrative and we are cognizant of its relevance in creating an emotional connection with our audiences and shaping a brand’s identity.
On the most challenging campaign you’ve worked on, and how did you address those challenges
Perhaps one of the most challenging campaigns was the launch of a car variant for one of our automotive clients in the country; a car that had already made its global debut. We wanted to tell a great story, and for that we needed a larger-than-life canvas. That is how we came up with the idea of using the Himalayan ranges as our backdrop. We chose the iconic Rohtang - la, at 10,942 feet above sea level, and the surrounding mountains to capture the essence of the campaign through 3D projection mapping. An extremely difficult and logistically impossible task, but Tribes chose to face this challenge head-on. At a time when the world was turning back to traditional billboards during the pandemic, we decided to take advantage of the largest natural canvas available to us. Located on the highest motorable road in India, the terrain and weather conditions were a daily battle. It took four months of extensive planning with a crew of 156 putting in over 54,000 man-hours to bring the campaign to life. The sheer determination, grit and never-say-die attitude of the team ensured the success of one of the most exciting campaigns we have ever undertaken.
On experiential marketing evolution in the coming years
Experiential marketing has seen a significant resurgence in a technology-driven world that is changing by leaps and bounds. With seamless integration of the physical and virtual world giving rise to “phygital” experiences, the opportunities are endless. As in OOH, the advent of new technologies has provided marketers in this space with tools that will shape their future. These technologies, combined with skilled storytelling, will allow advertisers to create experiences that take the brand's emotional connection with the audience to the next level. Personalisation and the creation of immersive experiences will be key to experiential campaigns in the future.
On your future plans for expansion and growth at Tribes Communication
In a journey that is less than a decade old, Tribes has transformed itself from a traditional OOH advertising company to a full-fledged integrated marketing agency offering a spectrum of services ranging from brand activations, events, retail, content creation, talent management and marketing services that span sports, rural and digital. At present, we have a capitalised billing of Rs 800 crore and are now targeting Rs 1,000 crore by the end of March 2025, when we complete a decade. With the OOH industry on the verge of a monumental transformation, we are taking bold steps into the future and are gearing up for an IPO by 2027.
